Colors! is a digital painting application for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, and Windows 8. Originally created as homebrew for the Nintendo DS, it was voted the most popular homebrew application on the Nintendo DS by readers of the R4 for DS blog.[1] The project eventually evolved into an officially licensed application for the Nintendo 3DS, available via the Nintendo eShop, known as Colors! 3D, citing the original homebrew as its beta form. The app, sans 3D, had since been legitimately distributed for Android devices, iOS devices, and PlayStation Vita (via PSN).

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Colors! was originally released in June 2007 as a simple homebrew painting application for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Jens Andersson, a programmer and designer who was on sabbatical from the games industry and wanted to experiment with the potential of the new handheld platform. Shortly after, Rafał Piasek created an online gallery where users could upload paintings made with the program.

Colors! quickly became one of the best-known homebrew applications on the Nintendo DS and, in September 2008, it was also released for the iPhone and iPod Touch. As of August 2010, it had been downloaded almost half a million times.[2]

Development of Colors! DS homebrew officially came to an end in December 2010[3] although the official gallery still accepts submissions from DS users and the unofficial forums remain active. Afterwards, it had been announced that a new version was set to be released on the eShop for Nintendo 3DS towards the end of 2011, thereby giving it a wider audience than its previous incarnation.[4] However, the game's release date was pushed back until April 5, 2012[5] to positive reviews.[6][7]